Early summer 2022 happenings

Our family welcomed a new baby on December 26, so we have been busy keeping up with that, along with raising two other kids. It has been a lesson in respecting one’s limits and capacity when it comes to intensive gardening. Seeds were germinated a little later than last year, and the pace of getting things in the grown has been staggered. Nevertheless, we have lots of plants in the ground at both our Montesano and Portland sites, and are anticipating a delightful array of vegetables, berries, and eggs to share with our customers in a few weeks!

We are experimenting with growing our indeterminate varieties of tomato at the Portland site this year. Because we don’t currently have greenhouse capacity for mature plants at this location, we planned the starts a little later, and didn’t put them in the ground until May 30. Glad we did because the Pacific NW experienced an unusually cool and wet Spring this year, which gave us plenty of time to install this new heavy duty trellis system. With seven feet of lateral growth space, and lots of careful pruning, we are tending five different varietals of paste and slicer heirlooms cultivated by Uprising Seeds.

Crops at our Montesano site are developing nicely. We harvested garlic on July 10, and immediately transplanted cherry tomato starts in their place. We will have plenty of exciting pepper varieties to offer, along with a bounty of carrots, beets, and potatoes. Experimentation continues with best practices in our hoop houses